a^sr^-^Q 



THE 

NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL 



OF 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW 



BY 

GEO. R. MOMYER 



THE 

NOEMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL 



OF 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW 



By 
GEO. R: MOMYER 






^ 



CRANE & COMPANY, PRINTERS 

TOPEKA, KANSAS 

1903 



\fWo.i1--fio2 i 



A 

.V-^ 



y\ 






..Ci>ey right 1903, 
: ••• by 

George Robert Momyer. 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 

The following outline is to be used in connection with 
the state edition of the school law (1903) and the State 
Superintendent's report (1901-1902). Superintendents 
will be found ready to accommodate teachers by providing 
copies of these books. 

Every teacher is entitled to one copy of the school law for 
his school library. There is no better school report printed 
than the last biennial report by the- State Superintendent 
of Colorado. This report is referred to so many times in 
this manual, that it will be found necessary to have a copy 
at hand. 

It is suggested that for institute work, the county super- 
intendents establish a school-law reading-room, placing all 
available copies of the school law and of the State Super- 
intendent's report in this room, where the teachers may 
have access to them. 

This manual is complete to date (December, 1903). 
It is hoped that it may contribute to the interest of the 
work in the institute, and that it may be of no little 
service in encouraging the home study of school law. 



(3) 



INSTITUTE OUTLINE. 
I. 

STATE BOABD OF EDUCATION. 

(95.) 

1. Who are members? 12^. 

2. When and where are meetings held ? 12^. 

3. What power has the Board in regard to diplomas and 
certificates ? 12^ 13^-^ 

4. In regard to appeals? 69^^ 70^^, S.47, S.177. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT. 

(4, 28, 31, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, 52, 63, 
110, 116, 147.) 

5. How is a vacancy in this office filled? 19^^. 

6. State six duties of the superintendent. 

.7^ 23is-^^-2o, 2524. 

7. What records must he keep? 22^«, 232^. 

8. Under what conditions may he appoint directors ? 

2423, S.1962^ 

9. Might there be a vacancy in the district board that 
the superintendent would not have the power to fill ? 24^^. 

10. What compensation does your county superintend- 
ent receive? 117^^' 1^ 

11. A superintendent of another county may receive a 
greater salary; why? 117^^. 

Note. — S. denotes'State Superintendent's report ; numerals refer to page and sec- 
tion, or page and paragraph. Numerals without S. refer to the School Laws (1903.) 
Numerals underneath topics refer to the other questions in this outline. 

(5) 



Q NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

12. Give process of an appeal from the district board 
to the county superintendent. 68^^'^^. 

II. 

STATE SUPERINTENDENT. 

(1, 24, 71.) 

13. Who are members of the State Board of Land 
Commissioners ? 8^. 

14. Why should the State Superintendent be a member 
of this Board? S.19. 

15. Are the school-law decisions by the State Superin- 
tendent final? 15^ 

16. Who prepares the state and county examination 
questions ? 15^. 

17. State amount of bond executed. 14''^. 

18. What salary is received? ($3000.) 

19. Why does not the superintendent supply teachers 
with copies of the school law? 16^. 

20. Describe the State Superintendent's report for 
1901-1902. 

21. State five duties of the Superintendent. 6^"^, 12^, 
13^ 15^ 16^ 16^^ 17^S 65^1, 6Q^\ 67«i^, 96^ 99^^ 

22. What provision is made to enable the Superintend- 
ent to keep in close touch with the various sections of the 
state? 16^^ 

CERTIFICATES AND DIPLOMAS. 

(3, 16, 21, 55.) 

23. What religious test may be required of a teacher ? 7^. 

24. Who are members of the State Board of Examiners ? 

[School of Mines, President V. C. Alderson.] lo , b.o9. 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 



25. How may a state diploma be secured? 

12^ 13^ 99^^ 

26. What is a complimentary state diploma ? 13*, S.42. 

27. State qualifications required of teachers of kin- 
dergarten schools. 106^ S.329. 

III. 

28. When are county examinations held? 19^^. 

29. What classes of certificates are granted ? 20^^. 

30. What certificates may be granted but twice to the 
same person? S.184^*. 

31. Discuss renewal, certificate of like grade, district 
certificate, temporary certificate. 

20^^ 21^^ S.18428, S.1853^ S.186*s 

32. Where must the county examination be held ? 

19^^ Exception, 20^^ 

33. State what is required of applicants at this exami- 
nation. 19^^. 

34. What is recorded in the superintendent's certificate 
record book? (Ask your superintendent.) 

35. For what reasons may a certificate be revoked ? 

21^6' S.189^^ 

36. What branches may one who has no teacher's certifi- 
cate teach in the public schools? 51^^. 

37. A teacher from another state desires to accept the 
principalship of a Colorado high school in a city of the 
first class. Is there any way by which he can escape the 
Colorado examination? 22^^. 



8 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

SCHOOL RECORDS. 

(7, 20.) 

38. How are school blanks, registers, etc., provided? 

39. Discuss the relation between teacher^s reports, re- 
ports of the district clerk, and the county superintendent's 
reports. 48^^ 52^\ 22^\ 

40. How may a resident of a district of the second or 
third class ascertain the financial condition of his dis- 
trict? 50^^ 

41. How may a resident of a district of the first class 
secure this information? 42^^. 

IV. 

SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

(60, 61, 74, 76, 77, 85, 87.) 

42. How many school districts in Colorado? S.70. 

43. How are districts classified? 36^^ 37^^^ 

44. How may a new district be formed in unorganized 
territory? 272^ 28^8, 125. 

45. How may a new district be formed from territory 
already organized? 27^% 2828. 122, 124, 125, 8.237^^ 

46. In dividing a district, state restrictions relating to : 

1. Area (or valuation). 28^^. 

2. ITumber of persons of school age. 28^^. 

3. Government lines. 29^^. 

4. City or town. 292^. 

5. District of the first class. 29^®. 

47. How are school districts numbered? 28^^. 

48. A first-class district and a third-class district are 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 9 

united : What provision is made for a school board for the 
new district? 29^^ 

49. How may territory be annexed to a school dis- 
trict? 3029. 

50. How soon must a school be established in a new 
district? 30^^ 

51. What is the penalty for failure to establish the 
school in the time designated ? 30^^. 

52. May the time be extended ? 30^^. 

53. May a district close its school for one year ? 

30^^ 62^^ 

54. What is a joint district? 31^^ 

55. Suppose nine-tenths of the area of a joint district 
is in Otero county, the other one-tenth and the school-house 
being in Bent county: in which county must the teacher 
secure his certificate? 31^^. 

56. When is the annual school meeting held? 38^^. 

57. When may a special meeting be held? 53^^, 127'^. 

58. What business may be transacted? 38^% 53^^ 

59. What are the qualifications of electors at this meet- 
ing? 5S 11^ 

V. 

SCHOOL BOARDS. 

(8, 9, 12, 39, 40, 41, 48, 56, 58, 75, 103, 105, 106, 110, 
116, 131.) 

60. How many directors constitute a school board in a 
district of the first class ? In a district of the second or 
third class? 36^^ 

61. Discuss the manner of election and the term of 



10 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL, 

office of a school director in a district of the first class. 
In a district of the second or third class. 36^^. 

62. How soon after election must a director qualify ? 

63. How are vacancies in the board of directors filled? 

64. liame ten powers of the school board. 

42^^ 43^S 103S S.197^ S.206«^ 8.247^^^ 8.248^^ 

65. Give two duties of the president. 46^^. 

66. Give three duties of the secretary. 47^^. 

67. Give two duties of the treasurer. 50^^. 

68. May a school director deal in the school warrants of 
his district? 78^ 

SCHOOL RESOURCES. 

(21, 38, 58, 119, 138.) 

69. Of what does the public school fund consist? 

7^ 4^'!^ (54^% 56^^, 59^^ 112^). 

70. If bonds forming a part of the state school fund 
should become worthless, should this diminish the school 
fund? 6^ 8.20^ 8.6I92. 

71. How is the state school fund apportioned ? When ? 

VI. 

72. The money belonging to the various districts of the 
county is intrusted to whose care? 6^, 26^^, 8.215^. 

73. What is the county school tax ? By whom levied ? 

54^^ 115^ 8.24528. 

74. If a district fails to certify a special tax, how may 
the matter be remedied? 55^^. 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. H 

75. Who must certify the amount of tax necessary ? 

76. By whom is the district tax levied? 56^^ 72^^^ 

77. What provision is made to prevent districts from 
getting in debt? 58^^. 

78. What is the legal rate of interest? 113^ 

79. What fines and penalties are paid into the school 
fund? 59^^107^ 

80. For what purposes must the general fund not be 
used? Exception? 60^^ 

81. By whom is the union or county high school tax 
levied? 34^^ 112^, IIG^. 

82. What is the limit of school taxation ? 

5g67^ 112^' ^ 115^ S.24313'1^ 

83. The statement, '' Otero county belongs to class six/' 
would have what meaning to a board of county commis- 
sioners ? 114^' ^. 

84. Who are qualified to vote for or against the issuing 
of bonds? ir, S.180i^ 

85. A district votes bonds to build a school-house. After 
a time the district boundaries are so changed as to place 
part of the original district in an adjoining district. Must 
this portion, now outside of the district, be taxed to help 
pay these bonds ? 74^^, S.l79^ 

86. How may school bonds be refunded? 76^^. 

87. In order to vote bonds, how many voters must re- 
side in the district? 70^^, 8.180^^, 8.181^^ 



12 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

VII. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

(19, 21, 27, 36, 50, 51, 53, 104, 129, 130, 131, 133, 135, 
136, 137, 138, 139, 140.) 

88. What is the legal school age? 6^. 

89. What provision is made for establishing kinder- 
gartens? 106^. 

90. Define public school. 62^^ 

91. The public school is open to whom? 62"^"^. 

92. What subjects are taught? 63^^, 19^^ 

93. Give the law requiring instruction in regard to: 

1. Alcoholic drinks and narcotics. 79^' ^. 

2. Humane treatment of animals. 63'^^. 

94. When are free text-books provided? 

44^1' ^ S.251^ 

95. May Colorado have state uniformity of text-books? 
9^^, S.251^. (See discussion of text-book laws in Part II 
of this book.) 

96. How are school libraries provided for? 57^^. 

97. Define school year, month, week, day. 63'''^, S.256^. 

98. For what holidays may pay be received? 

64^^ S.222^'^ 

99. What provision is made concerning Arbor Day? 

801' ^ S.2228. 

100. Define school census. 64^^, S.181^ 

101. What provision is made against sectarian teaching 
and concerning religious service? 7^, S.177, S.178. 

102. May a pupil of whom the compulsory law would 
require attendance be expelled from school? S.190^. 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 13 

103. Who prescribes the course of study? 

VIII. 

104. Give the conditions required in a teacher^s con- 
tract? 132, 133, S.250^^ 

105. Is a teacher's contract made before the annual 
election a legal contract? 

S.191^ 8.19211, S.193i^ S.2492^ 

106. Give limit of the teacher's authority. S.202^^. 
8.203^1, S.2071'^ S.2242, S.225^ 8,226'"'^^^, S.247^ 
S.2493^, 8.250^^ 

PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS. 

(81.) 

107. What is a district high school ? 45^^ 

108. How is a union high school established? 33^^. 
How maintained? 34^^ S.266. 

109. What special provisions apply to counties of the 
fourth and fifth classes? 110\ 115^ IIG^-^ 

110. What is a union high school committee? How 
elected? 33^^ 

111. How are vacancies in this committee filled? 33^^. 

112. State the powers of the committee. 34^^. 

113. For how many months in each year may a union 
high school be maintained? 35^^. 

114. Who may be admitted as students? 35^®. 

115. Give in detail the method of establishing a county 
high school in counties of the fourth and fifth classes. IIO^. 

116. How is the county high school committee elected ? 

1102. 



14 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

117. What is the term of office? 111^. 

118. What are the powers and duties of the county 
committee ? 111^. 

119. How is the county high school maintained? 

112^' «. 

IX. 

STATE SCHOOLS. 

(21.) 

120. Name, locate, and give purpose of each of the 
state educational institutions. 

102^' ^ 951'^^ 9^2,14^ gi4^ gYl, 

NORMAL INSTITUTES. 

121. Time and place of holding the institute. How 
determined? 65^^ 

122. What constitutes an institute district? 64^^. 

123. How many institute districts in Colorado ? S.420. 

124. Name the counties in your institute district. 

S.397-421. 

125. Discuss organization and duties of the normal in- 
stitute committee. 65^^. 

126. By what funds is the institute supported? 

127. By whom are conductors' and instructors' certifi- 
cates granted? 66^\ S.43. 

X. 

COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 

(102.) 

128. Under what conditions is it unlawful to employ 
children under fourteen years of age? 85^. 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 15 

129. For how much time in each school year must a 
child be sent to school? 84^. 

130. What exceptions are made. 84^. 

131. Who secures the prosecution of offenses under this 
law? (In third-class districts it is the duty of the school 
director, although any resident of the district may initiate 
proceedings. In districts of the first and second class a 
truant officer is appointed.) 

132. What qualifications must employers require of 
minors between the ages of fourteen and sixteen? 85^. 

133. Define juvenile disorderly person. 86^. 

134. Discuss the commitment of a juvenile disorderly 
person : 

1. To a children's home. 88"^. 

2. To the industrial school. 88^ 

135. In what cities may truant schools be established? 

90\, 9512. 

136. How established? 95^^ 90^. 

137. By what process may a student be enrolled in the 
truant school ? 91^. 

138. How is the expense of maintaining this school pro- 
vided for? 902, 93^ 

139. In what two ways may a pupil be discharged from 
this school? 94^' 11. 

140. Have the compulsory laws secured the results 
intended? S.15. 



16 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

COLORADO. 

STATE OFFICERS. 

1903-1905 Salary. 

Governor, James H. Peabody $5,000 00 

Lieutenant-Governor, Warren A. Haggott 1,000 00 

Secretary of State, James Gowie 3,000 00 

Treasurer, Whitney Newton 6,000 00 

Auditor of State, John A. Holmberg 2,500 00 

Attorney-General, Nathan 0. Miller 3,000 00 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, Helen L. Grenfell, 3,000 00 

SUPREME COURT. 

Chief Justice John Campbell 

Accooiate Justices \ William H. Gabbert 

Associate Justice^ | Robert W. Steele 

U. S. SENATORS. 

Thomas M. Patterson ( 1901 ). 
Henry M.Teller (1903). 

U. S. REPRESENTATIVES. 

John F. Shafroth, District I. 

Herschel M. Hogg, District II. 

Franklin E. Brooks, Oongressman-at-large. 



SOME CURRENT TOPICS IN 
GENERAL SCHOOL LAW. 

Colorado with an equal school population, and with an f^^^^l^ 
educational system but half as old, has expended six times 
as much money for school buildings as has Florida. Colo- 
rado is a type of the North and of the West in its gen- 
erous support of the public schools and in its willingness 
to bear the heavy and continual burden of an adequate 
system of school taxation. In Florida before 1886 no 
county school tax was levied. By 1890 only six counties 
were levying the maximum five mills and no district tax 
was levied. In 1902, forty-three counties levied a county 
tax and two hundred and twenty-six districts levied a dis- 
trict tax. In 1904 a constitutional amendment will be sub- 
mitted to provide for raising the county tax limit to seven 
mills. 

Florida is a type of the South in its lack of local taxa- 
tion, and in its increasing willingness to assume that bur- 
den. The South has had to face tremendous obstacles in 
providing for its schools : 1. Two races must be educated 
in separate schools at double expense. 2. The necessary 
school fund must be supplied almost entirely by one race. 
3. On account of the most deep-seated opposition to local 
taxation, this fund, until recently, has depended upon a 
state tax, miserably inadequate for the purpose. 

The South is to-day meeting these difficulties with com- 

(17) 



18 



NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 



mendable courage and with the most gratifying success. 
Since 1870 it has expended one hundred and thirty 
million dollars for the education of the colored race. Much 
of this has undoubtedly been wasted in the effort to adapt 
the negro to the white man's education, rather than to adapt 
the education to the capability of the race. Schools like the 
Florida State N'ormal and Industrial School, which omits 
all of the Grreek and much of the Latin, and introduces 
some sixteen industrial courses, are preparing colored 
teachers to give the kind of training that is best adapted to 
meet the needs of their people. 

Compulsory education laws have not been passed in that 
part of the Union south of Mason and Dixon's line and east 
of the Kansas City meridian (excepting Kentucky, Dela- 
ware, West Virginia, District of Columbia, and one county 
in Maryland.) Every state outside of this territory (ex- 
cept Texas) has an efficient compulsory law now in force. 
The ISTorthern states are constantly improving their 
compulsory laws, almost all of them this year extending 
the required attendance to include the entire time that 
school is in session, and many of them providing truant 
officers for rural, as well as for city schools. On account of 
the limited school fund at their disposal, the people of the 
South dare not pass a compulsory law, for fear of cutting 
in two the very short school term of the children who are 
already attending school. Considering the great need of 
such a law, the growing sentiment in favor of it, and the 
decided improvement in methods of taxation, there is little 
doubt but that in a very few years compulsory education 
will be established in the South as well as in the ITorth. 



SCHOOL LAW IN GENERAL. 19 



The Indiana compulsory law has brought fifty thousand 
pupils into the schools each year since its adoption, in- 
creasing the cost of school maintenance nearly half a 
million dollars per year. It will readily be seen what the 
result wouM be if Indiana should force these pupils into 
school when she was unable to provide the means for their 
education. 

Closely connected with the idea of compulsory education f;^^^-^*^"" 
are the child-labor laws. Such laws are in force in all the 
states with the exception of North Carolina. In that state 
in 1902, in the cotton mill and factory districts, three- 
fourths of the children were reported ^^not in school." 
A law to forbid child-labor under such conditions would 
be of little value unless supplemented by a compulsory- 
education law. North Carolina's State Superintendent 
strongly advocates the early enactment of the two laws; 
maintaining that the one would be ineffectual without the 
other. 

The consolidation of rural schools and the transpor- consolidation 

^ of rural schools 

tation of pupils to the central school at public expense tion S^pu^is to" 

is provided for by law in twenty-two states ; Massachusetts at pubiic'ti-''^^ 

alone expending one hundred and sixty thousand dollars ^^°^^* 

per year for the transportation of pupils to and from 

school. Pupils are transported at public expense in nearly 

half the counties in Indiana. New York state, with over 

three thousand of her schools having an average attendance 

of less than ten pupils, and Wisconsin with eight hundred 

and fifty schools having an average attendance of less than 

eleven pupils, are among the experimenting states. 

It is in the schools of the Central West and of the South 



20 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

that laws for consolidation have met with the greatest 
favor. It is in these same states that another movement, 
largely growing out of this one, is gaining strength and 
bids fair to exert a tremendous influence on the rural 
schools. The centralizing of the rural schools has made pos- 
sible the rural high school. The course of study for this high 
school, originally modeled after the city high school course 
and forming the connecting link between the common 
school and the State University, is being modified in such 
a way as to give the major emphasis to work along agricul- 
tural and industrial lines. In Minnesota and in Alabama, 
Agricultural High Schools are established as the connecting 
linh between the rural schools and the State Agricultural 
College, The argument is that the old system tends to at- 
tract the boys and girls to the life in the city and away from 
the life on the farm. The new system claims to return to 
the farm 90 per cent, of its enrollment, and to keep in 
school many of the older pupils who ordinarily would not 
take the High School course. 

Alabama has an Agricultural High School in each con- 
gressional district. In Wisconsin the Dunn County Agri- 
cultural High School and the Marathon County Agricul- 
tural High School are notable results of this movement. 
Housed in magnificent new buildings, thoroughly equipped, 
and handsomely supported by the people, they have every 
opportunity to bring their purpose to a successful issue. 
The Wisconsin schools were provided for by legislative 
act in 1901. In these schools but two lines of academic 
work are taken up, the remainder of the work being agri- 
cultural or industrial. 



SCHOOL LAW IN GENERAL. 21 



This brings us to a discussion of the industrial school Jchoois!*^ 
movement. 

Saxony, Germany, about four times as large as Pueblo 
county, has two hundred and eighty-seven industrial 
schools. The expenditure of over a million dollars per year 
for industrial training schools in the United States, the tre- 
mendous growth of the manual-training movement, and, 
not the least significantly, the Agricultural High Schools, 
show a tendency of our people to emphasize the industrial 
side of education. Our schools are preparing to answer the 
world's question, " ^\Tiat can you do ? '' as well as the 
school's question, '' What do you know ? " 

Text-books are conceded to be an essential part of the p^^^f^jJl^^^^ 
school machinery. School patrons can testify that in most 
cases they are an unnecessarily expensive part, considering 
the number and the mechanical quality of the books they 
buy. 

This problem is approached in several ways. In Wis- Free text-books. 
consin seventeen hundred districts outside of the cities are 
furnishing free text-books to their pupils. Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania and IsTebraska furnish free text-books to all 
pupils in their public schools. The magnitude of the finan- 
cial question involved is seen in the fact that Pennsylvania 
alone expends in a year nearly a million dollars for text- 
books. The great saving accomplished is demonstrated by 
the reduction of the cost of all the text-books needed by the 
average Pennsylvania pupil in one year to only seventy- 
one cents. 

Ohio stipulates that the maximum price of text-books 
must not exceed seventy-five per cent, of the wholesale 



22 



NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 



Uniformity of 
text-books. 



price, and limits dealers to a profit of ten per cent. The 
California state constitution requires that the text-books 
used in the primary and intermediate grades shall be com- 
piled and published by the state and furnished to the chil- 
dren at the cost of publication. 

Some twenty states have authorized state uniformity of 
text-books. The prices determined in five of these states 
for some of the seventh and eighth grade text-books are 
given below: 



Arithmetic . . . 
TJ. S. History. 

Grammar 

Geography . . . 
Physiology . . . 
Speller 



i 




















? 




§ 






6 


^ 




8 




^ 


a 


§ 


8 


§ 








'H 




^ 


O 


5 


^ 


^ 


.45 


.45 


.50 


.45 


.50 


.40 


1.00 


.80 


.65 


.80 


.50 


.60 


.55 


.40 


.50 


.85 


1.20 


1.20 


.75 


.81 


.45 


.50 


.60 


.60 


.80 


.15 


.22 


.30 


.10 


.15 



The figures given should be of interest to the patrons 
of the Colorado schools in view of the prices they are now 
paying for school books. 

The Colorado state constitution withholds from the Gen- 
eral Assembly and the State Board of Education the power 
to prescribe text-books to be used in the public schools, but 
it does not deny to the General Assembly the power to au- 
thorize some other means than the State Board to perform 
this service. Utah, with the same provision in her constitu- 
tion, has incorporated in her statutes one of the most satis- 
factory text-book laws yet enacted. The Utah law provides 
that the State Superintendent, the county superintendents, 



SCHOOL LAW IN GENERAL. 23 

and the principal of the State Normal School shall form a 
commission to decide what text-books shall be adopted in 
the district schools; and it makes the use of the adopted 
books mandatory in all district schools of the state except 
in cities of the first and second class. 

The usefulness of text-books is multiplied many times j^j^® p''**^*^ 
when they are supplemented by a well-selected library. 
The forty-five million volumes in the public libraries of 
the United States are evidence of the confidence of the 
American people in the public library as an aid in securing 
an education. 

Twenty-one states by legal enactment have provided for 
library extension. Kansas has ten thousand volumes in her 
traveling libraries. New York state has added sixty thou- 
sand volumes since 1893. Iowa has provided twelve thou- 
sand volumes, distributing them among small libraries, 
classified as libraries for general reading, and libraries for 
study reading. Minnesota's traveling libraries of twenty- Sb^UiJS^ 
five to fifty volumes each are loaned to any village, town or 
community that will give proper guarantee and be responsi- 
ble for the care and safe return of the library. Anyone in 
Minnesota desiring material on some special subject may 
write to the State Library Commission. References will be 
looked up and magazines will be loaned to anyone who will 
pay the transportation charges, thus carrying on in a way a 
reference library for the state. Each school district ex- 
pending forty dollars or less in a year for library books 
receives a state warrant for a sum equal to half the amount 
expended. 

North Carolina has set the pace for all the states in the libraries. 



amlnations. 



24 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

establishment and the support of rural libraries. The law 
provides that whenever the school or the community shall 
raise ten dollars for the purchase of library books, this 
sum shall be supplemented by equal contributions from 
district and state funds, making thirty dollars available at 
once. When the books are purchased, the county must 
supply a neat bookcase from county funds. Provision is 
made for an addition to the library in the same way that 
the first fund of thirty dollars is raised. The plan has 
been tried during the past year and is very highly com- 
mended by both teachers and patrons, 
ft^ttontandex- The value of text-books and of libraries depends in the 
highest degree upon the teacher who directs their use. The 
true qualifications of a teacher to use books as a means of 
teaching children are not to be summed up in mere state- 
ments or in figures. Legal qualifications are nevertheless 
defined, and are supposed to show approximately the abil- 
ity of the teacher to do the work. 

Most of the states provide for examination of teachers 
by county superintendents or by county examining boards, 
in most cases using questions prepared by the State Super- 
intendent. Rhode Island and Minnesota are two notable 
exceptions, in that they require that all examination papers 
shall be graded by state authorities. This would seem to be 
a remedy for the present lamentable lack of uniformity 
in so many states in the grading for county certificates. 
The impossibility of uniform grading for state certificates 
has compelled twenty-three states to refuse to honor state 
certificates from other states. The wisdom of such action 
is realized when it is known that the qualifications required 



SCHOOL LAW IN GENERAL. 25 

in some states for state certificate are scarcely above those 
required in other states for first-grade county certificates. 

Everywhere is noted the disposition to raise the stand- 
ard of qualifications required. This year additional stud- 
ies have been added, the age requirements have been raised, 
and the temporary certificate abolished in many of the 
states. 

The enforcing of these laws has very materially dimin- Pensions, 
ished the number of qualified teachers and has conse- 
quently tended to favor an increase in the salaries paid. 
Teachers' salaries are as a rule too low to be consistent 
with the qualifications required. The teacher expends his 
wages for his living and for expenses necessary to the 
better preparation for his work, and is unable to accumu- 
late savings that he may utilize when old age or disability 
retires him from the school. The proper solution of this 
problem is agreed to be the payment of wages cormnen- 
surate with the qualifications required and the services ren- 
dered. We are quite sure that the pension plan is repug- 
nant to most teachers, and yet as it is now adopted in most 
of the great cities and in some of the states, it presents 
many favorable features and few that m^ay be condemned. 

Florida in 1901 passed a law entitled ^^An Act for the 
Relief of Aged Teachers.'' This law provides that teachers 
having taught part of each year for twenty years prior to 
January 1st, 1900, in the public or private schools of 
Florida, shall be entitled to receive a life certificate to 
teach in the primary and intermediate grades. This is 
practically a provision to enable the teacher to earn his 
own pension. 



26 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANfAL. 

Superintendent Sheats characterizes it as ^^ an act to 
confer the special privilege upon incompetent teachers 
... to cease from studying and to impose themselves 
upon gullible parents and innocent children for the bal- 
ance of their natural lives." 

The inference is that teachers should leave the school- 
room as persons retire from other walks in life when their 
days of active usefulness are over. It is argued, then, that 
for the good of the schools some inducement should be pres- 
ent at this period to insure retirement, before the school 
work is permitted to deteriorate on account of the disa- 
bility of the teacher. The teacher's pension is perhaps the 
best incentive that has yet been tried. 

New Jersey is paying out $15,892.25 per annum to the 
fifty-two annuitants on her pension list. Teachers accept- 
ing the provisions of the law pay one or two per cent, of 
their annual salaries into the pension fund, the percentage 
depending upon the time they have taught before enroll- 
ing. The trustees of the fund are the State Superintend- 
ent, three members of the State Board of Education and 
three members chosen from the State Teachers' Associa- 
tion. 

Annuities are available after a teaching service of 
twenty years and on proof of mental or physical inca- 
pacity to earn a sufficient livelihood. Each annuity is 
equal to one-half the average annual salary received by the 
teacher for the five years immediately preceding his retire- 
mnt, and must not be less than two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars nor more than six hundred dollars. Last year there 



SCHOOL LAW IN GENERAL. 27 

were three thousand two hundred and six teachefs in New 
Jersey paying dues into this retirement fund. The longest 
teaching service recorded for an annuitant is fifty-eight 
years by a Morris county teacher. The highest annuity 
paid is six hundred dollars to an Essex county teacher with 
twenty-one years of teaching to her credit. This teacher 
received an average salary of thirteen hundred dollars per 
year for the last five years before her retirement. 

The Ohio state law requires that dues of two dollars 
per month be deducted from the teacher's salary by the 
school board, beginning with the formal acceptance by the 
teacher of the provisions of the pension law. 

Ohio requires thirty years of service before retirement, 
and pays a maximum annuity of five hundred dollars. The 
application of the law is under the direction of the school 
boards. 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW EXAM- 
INATION QUESTIONS. 

1897. 

MARCH. 

1. What are the requirements of the compulsory edu- 
cation law? 

2. Who are the members of the Board of Education? 
What are the duties of the school board? How are dis- 
trict schools classified ? When does the school year begin ? 

3. When was«the free Kindergarten law passed ? What 
are its provisions ? 

4. Give the substance of the act ai;ithorizing school di- 
rectors to purchase and display United States flags upon 
school buildings. 

5. How does the law provide for the inculcation of tem- 
perance principles ? How long has Arbor Day been ob- 
served in Colorado ? 

AUGUST. 

1. When was the State Normal School established? 

2. What provisions are made for the education of the 
deaf and blind? 

3. What is the legal definition of '' a public school '' ? 

4. What is meant by '' the school year '' ? 

5. What is a " school census '' ? 

6. In what ways may a school district forfeit its portion 
of the school fund for the year ? 

'(28) 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 29 

7. When and where are school elections held? 

8. When does the superintendent of public instruction 
apportion the school fund ? 

9. What is the ^^ normal institute fund '' ? 

10. What reports does the law require teachers to make? 

DECEMBER. 

1. Give the substance of the act designed to prevent 
frauds in the letting of public contracts. 

2. When^ and in what manner, may a special meeting 
be called in a district of the third class? 

3. Define school age; school census. 

4. What provisions govern appeals from the district 
board to the county superintendent ? From the county su- 
perintendent to the state board of education? 

5. What does the compulsory education act provide ? 

6. When, and in what amount, is the district treasurer 
required to give bond? 

7. What persons may vote upon the question of con- 
tracting a bonded debt? 

8. What formality is required in order that district war- 
rants may be legal? 

9. What provision does the Constitution of Colorado 
make concerning text-books? 

10. What power has the state board of education in the 
matter of diplomas ? 

1898. 

MARCH. 

1. Give full explanation of the method of conducting 
the county teachers' examination. 



30 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

2. Give grades and distingiiishing features of county 
teachers' certificates. 

3. WLen and by whom may a teachers' certificate be 
indorsed ? When renewed ? 

4. What is a school year ? A school month ? 

5. !Nrame the powers of the school board? 

AUGUST. 

1. What is the legal method of securing free text-books 
in a school district? 

2. When may a county superintendent appoint a school 
director ? 

3. What are the statutory provisions for holding normal 
institutes ? 

4. What are the statutory provisions concerning free 
Kindergartens ? 

5. For how long a term is a county superintendent 
elected ? A school director ? 

DECEMBER. 

1. Of what does the public school fund of Colorado con- 
sist? 

2. What is the penalty for a county superintendent's 
failure to make report to the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction ? 

3. How may a Union High School be established ? 

4. To whom are the public schools of the state open ? 

5. In districts of the third class, what is the method of 
procedure in calling a special meeting? 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 31 

1899. 

MARCH. 

1. When does Arbor Day occur ? State the require- 
ments of the law as to its observance by the public schools. 

2. What is the purpose of the school census ? 

3. In the census of what district must a person of school 
age be listed ? 

4. In whom is vested the authority to prescribe text- 
books and course of study for the public schools ? 

5. When is the annual school election held ? 

6. Discriminate between the general school tax and the 
special school tax. 

7. What is a joint school district ? 

8. How many normal institute districts are there in 
Colorado ? Give the number of the one in which you are 
writing the examination. 

9. Explain fully the ^^ like grade '^ certificate. 

10. !Nrame two powers of directors of first and second 
class districts not conferred upon directors of third-class 
districts. 

AUGUST. 

1. What officials constitute the State Board of Educa- 
tion ? The State Board of Examiners ? 

2. Enumerate five powers and duties of school boards. 

3. How is territory transferred from one district to an- 
other ? 

4. What is the provision concerning a teacher's final 
report ? 

5. How are vacancies in school boards filled in first- 



32 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL, 

class districts ? In second- and third-class districts ? For 
how long a period are the appointments made ? 

DECEMBER. 

(Answer any eight questions.) 

1. (a) How is the general school tax levied ? 

(&) What are its maximum and minimum limits in 
mills ? 

2. (a) What constitutes the general county school fund ? 
(b) For what purposes may it be used ? 

3. (a) How is the special tax levied? 

(b) What is its limit in third-class districts? 

4. (a) What determines the amount of special tax levy 

in third-class districts ? 
(&) In first- and second-class districts? 

5. For what purpose may the special tax fund be used ? 

6. (a) What constitutes eligibility to the office of 

county superintendent? ^ 

(b) Are any educational qualifications required by 
law? Any experience in school work? 

7. (a) ISTame titles of the different authorities author- 

ized to issue licenses (certificates) to teach 
in the public schools of Colorado. 
(b) Does the law delegate to the profession (teach- 
ers) any authority in this respect, or to pass 
upon the qualifications of those desiring to 
enter the profession ? 

8. (a) What is a registered warrant? 

(b) What interest does it draw? 

(c) Why this amount of interest ? 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 33 

9. When is a warrant illegal, even though drawn and 
signed by all members of the school board? 

10. What is the law relative to records and reports of 
teachers ? What is the penalty for non-compliance in this 
respect ? 

1900. 

MARCH. 

(Answer any eight questions.) 

1. What records and reports are required of teachers by 
law? 

2. What is meant by " school age '^ ? 

3. From what sources are the funds for the support of 
the public schools derived? 

4. Give in full the process by which a new school dis- 
trict may.be legally organized. 

5. How is the ITormal Institute fund raised ? 

6. What are the '^ National Holidays '^ designated by the 
school law ? 

7. What are the legal qualifications of an elector at a 
school election? 

8. What is the law relative to employing a teacher with- 
out a license to teach? 

9. Who constitute the State Board of Land Commis- 
sioners ? 

10. Who constitute the State Board of Education? 

11. Who has control of the State JSTormal School ? 

12. What notice must be given to the county superin- 
tendent of the opening of school? 



34 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL, 

AUGUST. 

1. What notice of opening school must be given the 
county superintendent? 

2. May a teacher continue in charge of a school after 
the expiration of his certificate? 

3. What is the law relative to non-resident pupils ? 

4. How does a creditor of a school district obtain his 
money ? 

5. What provision concerning text-books is made by the 
Constitution of Colorado ? 

6. What is the penalty for teaching without a proper 
license ? 

7. What is the maximum limit of the special tax in 
third-class districts ? 

8. What is the maximum limit of the special tax in 
second- and first-class districts ? 

9. Distinguish between the general school fund and the 
special school fund, and state the proper uses of each. 

10. In what counties and upon what authority may a 
county high school be established? 

DECEMBER. 

1. How are school districts classified? How many di- 
rectors in each class ? 

2. ITame five legal duties of a school board. 

3. When and for what purpose is the school census 
taken ? 

4. What is the maximum limit of general tax levied by 
the county for school purposes? 

5. For what causes may a teacher's certificate be an- 
nulled ? 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 35 

1901. 

MARCH. 

1. What qualifications are necessary to entitle one to 
vote for director at the annual school meeting? What 
additional qualifications to vote on a question of creating 
a debt ? 

2. When is the annual school meeting held? State 
three powers reserved to the electors in third-class districts. 

3. Give two powers of the school board in first-class 
districts not possessed by boards in third-class districts. 
When does a district become first class ? 

4. State two advantages of first-grade certificates over 
other grades issued by the county superintendent. What 
is meant by an '^ indorsed '' certificate ? When may a 
"like-grade'' certificate be issued? 

5. State five duties of a county superintendent. 

AUGUST. 

1. (a) What officials constitute the State Board of Edu- 
cation. 

(&) Who are the present incumbents ? 

2. Who is the legal interpreter of the school law of this 
state ? 

3. Name, in order, the officials specially charged with 
the execution of the school laws. 

4. What is the relation of the teacher to the school 
board? 

5. Where and when must county examinations be held ? 

6. ITame all the different kinds of teachers' license, or 



36 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL. 

certificate, recognized in this state, and tell by what author- 
ity each is issued. 

7. For what causes may a teacher's certificate be re- 
voked ? 

8. (a) l^ame all the sources from which school reve- 
nues are derived. 

(&) State specially the difference between the general 
and special school fund. 

9. What special branches are required to be taught in 
all schools ? 

10. What reports must teachers make? 

DECEMBEB. 

1. Who has power to revoke certificates ? Diplomas ? 

2. What is a school year? A school month? 

3. What constitutes a legal warrant? 

. 4. Por what purposes may the general fund be used ? 
The special fund ? 

5. What is the law governing the teaching of the effects 
of alcohol and narcotics ? What is the penalty for failure 
to comply with the law? 

1902. 

MARCH. 

1. From what sources are the funds obtained for the 
maintenance of the schools of a district? 

2. State fully the provisions of the law relating to the 
teaching of the English language, Spanish, German, hy- 
giene, humane treatment of animals. 

3 to 5. State fully the provisions of the school law re- 
garding requirements made of teachers. 



COLORADO SCHOOL LAW. 37 

AUGUST. 

1. (a) What is a school census? 
(&) When taken? 

(c) Of what value is it to the district? 

2. (a) What is the fee for teacher's examination ? 
(&) For what purpose is the money obtained from 

this source used ? 
(c) How is it apportioned? 

3. (a,) How does a district proceed to issue bonds? 
(&) For what amount may a district be bonded? 

4. A^liat is the '^ General Fund/' and from what sources 
is it derived ? 

5. What provision is in the Constitution regarding text- 
books ? 

6. (a) What districts may have kindergartens? 
(b) How are kindergartens supported? 

7. How are vacancies filled in the board of directors of 
first-class districts ? 

8. How may districts be united ? 

9. How may districts be annulled ? 
10. (a) What is the " Special Fund '' ? 

(b) For what purposes may it be used? 

DECEMBER. 

1. What are the powers of electors at district meetings ? 

2. How are school taxes levied and collected ? 

3. How may vacancies in the offices of school directors 
be filled? 

4. How are school districts classified, and what is the 
basis of classification? 



38 NORMAL INSTITUTE MANUAL.* 

5. What is the law in regard to the power to prescribe 
text-books to be used in the public schools? 

1903. 

MARCH. 

1. Give four duties of the school boards of third-class 
districts. Give four duties of electors in third-class dis- 
tricts. 

2. From what sources is the general school fund ob- 
tained ? For what purpose may it be used ? 

3. From what source is the special school fund received ? 
For what purpose may it be used ? 

4. What powers are granted to first-class district school 
boards, not granted to third-class district boards ? 

5. When a pupil becomes unruly, how may he be legally 
removed from school ? 

AUGUST. 

1. State fully that portion of the school law relative to 
compulsory education in Colorado. 

2. Give the different steps necessary in establishing a 
County High School. 

3. Give three duties of the State Board of Education. 

• 4. What kinds of certificates give license to teach in the 
public schools of Colorado ? State how each may be ob- 
tained. 

5. What offices does the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of this state hold ex ^officio? 

What may a county superintendent hold ex officio ? 



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